


Heat Exhaustion

by Naril



Series: Wintershock Multiverse One-Shots [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, First Aid, Heat Stroke, How Do I Tag, Hurt Bucky Barnes, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Relationships, Multi, Protective Darcy Lewis, Protective Steve Rogers, dont try that at home, not accurate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-01-18
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:27:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22257184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naril/pseuds/Naril
Summary: When Bucky had been late from a solo mission by more than 48 hours, it did not take much or long to have Darcy and Steve in the Pinzgauer (Jane had stored it and SHIELD had dropped them in it) combing Death Valley for their lost assassin.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis, James "Bucky" Barnes/Darcy Lewis/Steve Rogers
Series: Wintershock Multiverse One-Shots [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1511102
Comments: 2
Kudos: 94





	Heat Exhaustion

**Author's Note:**

> Stand-alone one-shot for my prompt list. I like this universe. I love all three of them together.
> 
> Not beta-read as always with me.

When Bucky had been late from a solo mission by more than 48 hours, it did not take much or long to have Darcy and Steve in the Pinzgauer (Jane had stored it and SHIELD had dropped them in it) combing Death Valley for their lost assassin. 

The base he had been sent to infiltrate was a crater in the desert but there was nothing to give them any idea as to where he had disappeared to. It took them three days to pick up a trail and they clearly only managed because of the state he was in at that point. 

They found him curled up under an outcropping of rocks, trying to find the barest hint of shade from the unforgiving sun. He had been dragging his weapons with him all the way, because of course he would. 

There were burns, even blisters on parts of skin his combat gear had left exposed when Steve reached for him and gently rolled him over halfway.

“Buck.” He called softly. 

His eyelids fluttered but that was the extent of a sign that he was at all aware of their presence. 

“Get him in the back of the car. I’ll get the kit out, I think there’s icepacks in there.” Darcy had already sprung into action, leaving him to quickly regather himself before sliding his hands under his friend’s body, hissing at the burn when he accidentally touched a metal part of a tucked away weapon. At least the vibranium arm had not heated up by nature of the metal. 

“Damn it, Buck! Why’d you have to be such a walking armoury?” He muttered into his best friend’s dusty hair as he held him against his chest. 

There was a twitch, a hitched breath, but Bucky stayed unresponsive as he followed Darcy’s instructions and lifted him into the back of the Pinzgauer. 

She had laid out a sleeping bag from one of the compartments and was digging through another one. 

“I’ve got nothing for towels or something so we’re gonna have to just soak the bag and add the ice and hope my logic and the little I remember from my college first aid course doesn’t do more harm than good.” She babbled. 

“Just tell me what to do.” Steve checked for a pulse, because he had not thought of that earlier. It was racing and the skin burning with heat but utterly dry. 

“Strip him and cover him in what water we got.” She shoved one of the emergency containers of water in his direction. “I’ve pinged our coordinates but pick-up is gonna be a while.” 

-“What’s a while?” He asked while he worked on peeling off dust-covered tac-gear, stopping every once in a while to put aside another hidden knife or whatever weapon he ended up finding. 

“Couple hours.” She cracked the koolpaks she had gathered, without even acknowledging that Steve was undressing his friend down to his boxer-briefs. Instead she carefully arranged the paks under his armpits, around his neck and Steve grimaced when she placed them close to the groin on his inner thighs too. 

Still, he poured some water over his torso to help when she struggled to lift the container, before kneeling back by Bucky’s head to try and rouse him again. He was going to ignore the half-healed cuts and bruises for the moment. 

“C’mon, Bucky, I need you to wake up, ya lazy jerk.” He patted his scruffy cheek roughly and was rewarded with a groan as the other tried to turn his head away. “There ya go. Knew all it’d take would be a few insults.” 

-“Told ya t’stop callin’ me that.” It was just a croaky whisper but it was music to Steve’s ears. 

“Can’t help if you are one.” He teased, already unscrewing a water bottle and easing a hand behind Bucky’s neck to help him take a sip. 

When he pulled the bottle away, he glimpsed glassy, grey eyes. 

“Give it a moment, alright? There’s plenty more where that came from.” 

A grunt. 

“Not even gonna call me a punk?” He let him have another few swallows. 

“’s not a thing, Steve. Stop tryin’ to make it a thing.” Bucky croaked. 

Darcy snorted where she had jumped back into the driver’s seat to check on an ETA for their pick-up. “Clint thinks it’s a thing.” She teased, moving to sit on his other side so he did not need to crane his head to see her like he had been trying to do. 

“Clint’s an ass.” He rasped and reached for her clumsily. 

Steve smirked when she clasped his hand, entwined their fingers and kissed Bucky’s knuckles. The look in his eyes was utterly smitten. Never let it be said one James Buchanan Barnes was not a sucker for the sappy stuff. 

“I’m gonna drive us to the extraction point, they sent over coordinates. You two behave back here.” She said and went back to the front of the vehicle. 

Bucky managed another sip of water while she started up the engine but screwed up his face after. 

“Don’t - don’t feel so good.” He gagged but before Steve could look for something in case he started throwing up, he went utterly grey under the sunburns and his eyes rolled into the back of his head so all Steve could see were the whites of his eyeballs. 

“Shit!” 

Thankfully, the sleeping bag Darcy had laid out offered some cushioning because Bucky’s spine arched back, head thumping onto it as he started to spasm. 

“Don’t touch him. Just put him in the recovery position when it’s over.” He vaguely heard Darcy tell him from where she continued to drive, knuckles white around the wheel. 

He met her gaze in the mirror, recognising the utter fear in hers that reflected his. 

“I’ve got him. Just get us there.” 

She nodded, eyes going back to the road they had pulled back onto. “Seizures can happen with heatstroke.” She managed a little weakly. 

“Yea and we’re bringing his temperature down already. Our ride’s aware and he’ll need a medic. It’s gonna be alright.” Steve kept talking, all too conscious that Bucky was still convulsing and he was supposed to keep an eye on the time (Right? That was a thing you should be doing?), though the tremors and jerks seemed to ease, finally. 

Bucky’s chest was still heaving when he rearranged him gently to lie on his side but otherwise he had gone very limp and pliable. He did not react when he replaced the koolpaks that had scattered during his fit. 

He did not notice with how closely he was watching him that Darcy had turned off the engine until she was next to him and started to comb her fingers through Bucky’s hair. 

“Now we wait.” She said, though he did not know whether she meant their ride or Bucky’s unconscious state. She seemed completely absorbed by her self-appointed task. 

He took a moment to take her in then. It was not that she was unrattled, her hands were shaking and behind her glasses, her eyes were flickering over his best friend as if that alone would fix him. 

It took only a little longer, though it felt like an eternity, before Bucky stirred. 

“Hey, welcome back, hot stuff.” Darcy soothed him immediately, still stroking his scalp in an almost compulsive pattern. Steve was suddenly oddly reminded of his mother. 

“Ngh… D-Darce…” Bucky slurred, shifting and dislodging some of the koolpaks again.  
“Yea, I got you, champ. We got you. Me and Steve.” 

An eyebrow twitched up, even if he did not open his eyes just yet. “S-Stevie?” 

Steve squeezed his shoulder, just past the metal seam, having rearranged the koolpaks. “I’m here, Bucky. You gave us a bit of a scare there.” 

“Wha’ happened?” 

Darcy and Steve shared a look. 

“You passed out on us.” Steve decided to say to keep explanations to a minimum. He seemed disoriented enough as it was “How’re you feeling?” 

“Tired - cold.” A shudder. He never liked the cold anymore. Steve only understood too well. 

“Yea, we need to get your temperature down. Can you deal with it for a bit?” 

Hand creeping up to Steve’s for him to grasp, Bucky nodded. They both knew how it brought back the worst kind of memories, for both of them. 

“Just let us know when it gets too much and if you think you can drink some more water.” 

Another nod, though at this point Bucky was burying his nose between the bunched up sleeping bag and Darcy’s knee, his fingers tightening around Steve’s a little. 

Barring another scare, they just needed to hold on until the extraction team picked up the Pinzgauer. 

Resting his free hand on his collarbone, Steve could already tell that Bucky was not quite as overheated as he had been to begin with. 

He glanced at the dark-haired woman across from him. They would take care of him. He would be fine. 

***


End file.
